My favorite color is a shade of blue and I have loved these flowers in all shades since the first time I laid eyes on them working in the Union Square Farmers Market.
One day John Malcovitch bought at least a dozen from me.
When I saw them today at the Fresh Market, I just had to bring them home.
One of the things I very much like to do is experience high tea. I make a lot of tea at home, although as much coffee is also consumed. The VIP has been to tea in Rotterdam and very much enjoyed himself but felt that was an exception rather than a rule. These men, they just do not catch on....HINT: you can enjoy the company of a bevy of ladies here!
So, that leaves to me alone enjoy myself in the company of those ladies, and today that enjoyable company was none other than *A* and the owner of Sophia's Tea Room (that being none other than Ms. Sophia herself, who had the most strikingly beautiful alabaster skin - completely devoid of melanin she explained).
Sophia loves to entertain, so this business is a natural for her. She makes everything herself but the bread. Let me tell you that her recipes are a delicious twist on traditions. If you cannot make it to Sophia's but have been inspired - check Here for a location close to you wherever you go.
We sat at a table for 2 close to the window as seen here: 
The incorrigible Ms. A M-W:
She looks like a genie coming out of the pot! Make your three wishes!
Sadly we realized only too late that we hunger had overtaken us and neither one took a photo of the tiered server of food before it was devoured. I'll spare you the crumbs.
Now, more people to do and places to see (you know what I mean!), my holiday weekend has officially begun.
Once again I remain under the unbroken spell of Stephanie Meyers. I could almost take away one star for not sharing more of Edward Cullen in this book, and for the foreshadowing she is so talented at building that almost certainly hint at disaster, that will leave me broken and crying out "WHY, BELLA, WHY?".
It's taken the reading of 3 novels to figure the allure these books hold over me - they conqur my heart, not my head. Usually I like to be more involved in thinking when I am reading a book or watching a movie, but Mrs. Meyers writing enables me to surrender completely and read (like a vampire,) voraciously and always feeling hungry for more.
I do not understand the Edward haters. Yes sometimes he is over protective, that seems to be his worst flaw. And the Jacob lovers, falling for the perennial 'nice guy'? I'll be starting the next book Friday - can't wait!
Edward Cullen
Technorati Tags: edward cullen,jacob,eclipse,twilight,new moon,breaking dawn,stephanie meyers,bella,vampires,werewolves,high school
Today I learned that 2 small, privately owned business in the community have or will be going out of business.
The Main Street Tea House Safety Harbor (727) 451-0226- call and leave a message if you are interested in any of the stores' contents. I called to make a reservation and found the doors actually closed last month. Now I will have to drive to Tampa for a nice High Tea.
Scrapbooking With Love - Oldsmar (813) 814-5892. I have never actually been to this shop, with Ruban Rouge so close and with everything a girl could want.
Just a reminder of the power a dollar can make to a small business owner and the staff they employ. If there is a merchant out there with a business you frequent and enjoy and would miss once they are gone, they really need your business now so do what you can to support them.
My friend Anna lent me this series. I started reading this last evening and just finished this evening. "New Moon" is the second in a series by Stephanie Meyer, and I have to use much restraint and distraction to deprive myself from starting the third installment titled 'Eclipse' this very evening.
It's with utter amazement that I find myself, a grown ass woman, swooning over this fairy tale of seductive teen vampire love complicated by werewolf wantings. The plot is great and keeps you from putting the book down once you start. Captivating and quick reading. Gives me that butterflies in the stomach feeling - true "chick lit"! Men, take notes from Edward Cullen!
Technorati Tags: goodreads,new moon,edward cullen,stepanie meyer,anna molina-wilkinson,vampires,werewolves,movie
It is a sure sign that you are getting OLD when the glory of the Internet reunites you with various and sundry people who were part of your past lives DECADES AGO and they share with you (and perhaps others depending on the forum) their impressions of your behavioral traits and recollections of your character - perceptions that DECADES LATER you may still be wandering the earth, clueless about.
I tend to consider myself as pretty well grounded, centered, and think I know myself better than your average bear (although there are still some mysteries unfolding) and most of the time I have an intuitive insight into others (which I almost always keep to myself, and please don't ask me to comment further - I dislike my character trait of being judgmental and even more so when accurate, plus it scares a lot of people when they find I understand them more deeply than they understand themselves.). Once in a great while my cynicism fails me and I have a moment of naiveté that thankfully not many have been able to identify at the moment it happens.
So you can appreciate the pure entertainment value of being the recipient of all these comments that may or may not reconcile with the image I hold of myself. I don't discard them, rather layer them to get a fuller, more dimensional picture of myself.
Lately I've been the recipient of comments indicative of the effect the passing of time has had on the exterior. While I still feel the same youthfulness in my soul, I have noticed the checkout cashiers and baggers have taken to calling me "ma'am". Don't they know that is a 4 letter word? I find myself sounding like an old fart, recalling tales of 'back in my day' (Yeah old bag, the world keeps moving forward - don't get stalled), and now this: A HS teacher asks who in my group I might still be in touch with, explaining he has not "seen anyone from my era".
I have to give credit to Wi
kipedia for illustrating the following point:
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in social history, eras may for example denote a period of some monarch's reign. In colloquial language, eras denote longer spans of time, before and after which the practices or fashions change to a significant degree.
The word era is also popularly used to denote the passing of — often shorter — periods that are only defined in terms of a specific discipline of sphere of life, such as the prominence of an artistic style, or more specifically in music, see musical eras, described in History of music, such as the Big Band era, Disco era. An event such as the death of Frank Sinatra is poetically called the end of an era.
So, you see he really picked a fantastically accurate descriptive word to say "YOU ARE ANCIENT HISTORY, BABE".
Well, since his daughter is my age and I am a dinosaur from the Pleistocene age, that makes him a primordial fossil, right?
Yesterday I met up with a friend to pick out a birthday present at Total Wine. Despite it's name, the store does also sell liquor, beer and snacks and had a swarm of male associates willing to help two lovelies decide on the best choice of getting tuned up. Men, did you ever in your wildest dreams think you could get paid for this?
But I digress. We made our selection with the assistance of no less than 3 helpers and decided to trek across the street to THE MALL. Now, I do not frequent the mall as A) I am no longer age 16, and B) As a grown ass woman I have pretty much everything I NEED times 3.
However we were literally steps away, and our transaction was over so prematurely thanks to our helpful helpers, and we needed more girl time, so we headed over and proceeded to do our thing, which is to walk and talk at the same time. Next thing I know there is a rather cute, tall and thin young man (qualities I must admit are pretty irresistible) who has sidled up to my right and is looking over (may I say obviously so) to my left where my friend is, not once one, but twice. He makes eye contact and I offer him an opener: "Hi" (yes, guys - that line really does work as a conversation starter!) to which he replies with his own Hi and I ask "Are you getting in on the conversation here?" to which he replies "maybe" and matches our stride.
Pretty bold dude, and I like that in a dude. Not to cocky, just enough certainty to make you go "Hmmm". But I feel I have been generous enough with my started and opening the door a little wider and his maybe was a little too "WIIFM?' and I'm all like 'Dude - you sidled up to me - your move' so I proceed to pick up the conversation right where I left off and the dude hangs for the length about 3 store fronts before wishing us a good day and peels off on a 90 degree turn. Must have seen a better conversation over in that direction. The whole thing was a little odd and felt like time had slowed, he warped my space time continuum.
And while neither of us gals had a need for anything, we both were able to come away with a steal at THIS STORE, which is giving away clothing FOR FREE.
Here's how it works: you spend $50.00 and they give you TWO $25 gift certificates - I'll do the math for ya... you are getting $50.00 back for every $50.00 spent. Amazing. They must have a huge inventory coming in for fall and not enough room to put it all in. Well, with a deal like that I have to help them out you understand. I came away with this outfit, in my FAVORITE color of Bazzil's paper - Blue Calypso. The skirt had a front pleat that you cannot see here and the jacket is a heavyweight knit, and has a vintage flair to it. I love princess seams and notched lapels! Yea for ME!
I have heard that this compulsion is shared by those who are of above average intelligence, and I take some solace in that. They (and by 'they' I mean 'me') cannot let go of items, things that others may regard as trash, because they see too much possibility in the thing - they have a desire for the thing to be reincarnated and maintain it's usefulness and beauty.
I (Oops, I mean 'they') could blame genetics or learned behavior in those ever important early years, but whatever the root cause, perhaps it's not such a bad thing?
Okay, Okay, so every once in awhile the VIP has to become the human beat box and play a few bars ("Ba-Ba-BaDa") from the theme to Sanford & Son to give me a reality check and a proper illustration into how insane my logic for keeping some item might be at any given moment.
With that being said, I unveil one of my latest creations - a coffee can - ready to hold a plant or a bunch of goodies....ready to rise for whatever the occasion calls for. Is this disease contagious? (Maybe I need to consult Dr. Wang.)
Ask and you will be answered! 24 hour wisdom, advice & inspiration from Dr. Sidney Wang is available here: Ask Dr. Wang
No burning question is too complex or too insignificant, and when is the last time you met a Dr. who made house calls?
You don't want to miss this opportunity. (check the sidebar on the page for the comment area to enter your question. Now, GO DO IT! If I tell you any more I might just spoil all your fun!)
By the time you will read this, TS Fay will have long since passed my area by and left us thankfully unscathed. At the time I am writing this I am listening to a neighbor installing their hurricane shutters.
Just to double check (my sanity) that I had not missed any newsflash warning that Fay had not zigged when she should have zagged or had she been upgraded from 50 mph winds (or less as was predicted), I did pull up NOAA's most recent forecast which affirmed that at this very moment the storm is already along side of us and we are currently receiving what is likely to be for our area 'the brunt of the storm'.
Now, 'Be prepared" is a great motto I admire - maybe that's why my favorite crushes have usually been on men who were Eagle Scouts in a past life - that being said, my neighbor's behavior seems to be going a little above and beyond what is called for under these circumstances. And NO, that is not a SHRUB obscuring the neighbor's entryway, that IS the debris pile up for discussion. And YES, it is supposed to be in 3 foot bundles.
Normally such ridiculous behavior on the part of another wouldn't bear mention, but last evening I witnessed yet another neighbor out trimming his tree limbs. He worked diligently, until he had amassed a pile of dense brush higher than the roof of his SUV. I had to scratch my head and wonder, exactly what does he think is going to happen to that neat little pile of flotsam jetsam? This was AFTER the local news had announced there would be NO TRASH PICKUP. Indeed, I had received a blast call from my waste disposal company directly, confirming there would be a deviation.
Is it just me, or does the 'storm prep' behavior strike you as fear based?
No, that's not a reference to bra size, this posting is a wee too early in the a.m. for me to start being clever (check back later).
I start my day today with a cup or more precisely, a pot of adagio's chestnut tea.
And you readers and lurkers know I love to share a good thing when I find it, so today, in celebration of the fact I have been spared the fate of Stormy Fay I am sending a random RAK!
To be selected you MUST COMMENT (and include your email address or check back to see if you have won and contact me with your mailing info) and you may be the lucky winner of a teapot/cup for one and your own adagio tea. I will announce the winner at next posting, have to find a box for shipping around here somewhere! Good luck!
While we are on the topic of tea, if you are in the area you might want to pay a visit to Safety Harbor's Main Street Tea House. I don't go often enough and simply adore their Blue Lady tea. Strawberry, Kiwi and Coconut flavors that do not overfruit the tea are blended into a smooth, subtle, tropical tea. The loose tea contains bits of blue delphinium, so lovely to look at. What's your favorite cup?
Some of you local lurkers know that a few months ago we had a home renovation at Chez Nelson 
, and this included replacing the existing closet systems.
After interviewing several companies we decided to go with Joann Sadoyan at ClosetsByDesign. "Why" you ask? Because her company had the best warranty, allowed her to match the competitor's price, and believe it or not, SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO FOLLOWED UP TO CLOSE THE DEAL!
Now, I can tell you you that closet systems are not inexpensive and while I did not need the tricked out crown moldings (I like my money in the bank, thank you) one would still think that it would be good business for a salesperson to follow up. Thank you Joann for your professionalism!
Joann was uber-patient with me, tolerant of me sending in at least 3 sketch and price revisions. I am not normally a 'Zilla of a client, and this was the result of me just not putting enough advance thought into how much hang space I needed for what type of garments. Joann could have done this for me, except we were tearing out the floor when she came by and we had already removed the old closet system and all our clothing was at our second home in 4 closets over there! Not like me to make it easy!
Long story short, I HIGHLY recommend a closet like this to all of you. It's so easy to find everything and I have freed up my guest room closet so now my guests have someplace to put their things... imagine that! They may want to stay longer now that they are not living out of a suitcase.
I have plans for the guest and the office closets but have lost my mojo for having any more contractors in the house for the time being. This year is flying by and next you know the holidays will be upon us and we will be ringing in 2009. The pressure has been added, as Holiday Tags are the next swap at QKC...Click here to learn more about Closets By Design!
Well today I decided to switch it up a bit and move from Wednesday meetings back to Sunday meetings at Ruban Rouge, where I get to hang with the likes of The Ever Talented Theresa Marie Jasper, My Girl *A* and the owner, Lisa, who is a total panic - a refreshing voice in the 'PC" world. 
I used to go on Sundays, until it got so crowded that there were NO seats one day and I had to bail out (being that there were no cute boys laps to sit on, Uncle Mike wasn't working at the store yet...). But I was lured back with the promise of good company for a Sunday all day free crop after the group meeting , and I was glad I took the bait.
At the meeting we had a tag exchange and folks made really cute thing that they put a lot of work into. I brought some pocket folders with pull out tags like this 
.....
And I came home with some tags that looked like this:
made by Bev in my Garden Club^
<by *A*
this is a cool pocket envelope with screenprint
and we made this with the Accucut, designed by Lisa, I LOVE IT! Have to confess because I did give her a terrible teasing about not taking the class sight unseen:
And here is a page from my 12x12 album for my recent party pics:
I had my first stalker today.
I got a request to add a friend from 
this cheeky young bloke from the UK who I do not know and does not know me and we share no mutual friends that would have pointed him in my direction. Thinking I'd try anything once,well at least when it comes to this:), I sent him a message.
When you do so in these circumstances Facebook warns you that you are giving a 30 days all access pass to your profile to the other person. Whatever, my personal information is personal and not on my profile for good reason. Unless he is CIA he's not coming to find me.
At first glance I thought he might be a 'collector', as he has 459+ friends and growing. But these are mostly all local people, plus he look like a young party boy. Safe enough it seems. So I send a reply:
I don't think I know you, would you like to stalk me?
"Yer"
How did you stumble upon me?
"dont no love proberbly through some1 we both no"
We have no mutual friends - DO TELL
"were u from"
Well , as adorable as it is that he even texts in his Brit accent (and who doesn't love an accent?) something is up with Mr. Norton...I was hoping he would tell how he came across my profile with some sincerity. But since not, I have checked the IGNORE box on his Add a Friend request. That has not deterred him from sending another. So dear readers, I will take a poll and receive your comments on the topic; to be stalked or* not to be stalked?
Facebook gives the option of BLOCKING him, or if I continue to IGNORE him, in 30 days he will be left with only a thumbnail and my pinging blog feeds if he follows them. Now my feed tells me there are many visitors stopping in, but only a couple who dare to comment - perhaps you will all want to have some input here...
Facebook, Facebook, Facebook...Where have you been all my life and why didn't I meet you sooner?
You have ruined me for all others, seduced me away from my blog (we had a good thing going - why tempt me to ruin?), caused me sleepless nights, compelled me to tell you all my secrets, share my past lives, go places I never thought I'd go again. You are consuming my life, leaving little time for the other hobbies. They are feeling jealous, neglected and I am feeling guilty. You have fed my compulsions, stripped me of my inhibitions, and left me begging for my next fix.
Yes, Facebook, you are my Heroin. But my addiction is not the worst of it. You have degraded me to the point that I am actively luring others for you to have your way with them.
You are my pimp and I am your 'Ho. You are so irresistible that I don't mind sharing you with the others. You always make me feel like I am your one and only when we are together. Facebook, I love you....
http://new.facebook.com
If you loved Anne Rice's first couple of novels, enjoy teen angst/coming of age, romance novels, or ever wished you could be a good looking, well dressed, elegant, poised, intellectual (vampire) who drives pimped cars, wears designer labels that cling to your perfect physique, has straight white teeth and sweet breath, alabaster skin, flat chiseled abs, and a voice and eyes that leave everyone helplessly hypnotized and under your spell then gate the first bite and get started on this series, quick before THE MOVIE comes out.
All the sushi places were closed for lunch so we went HERE instead where *A* was quickly recognized by her former server, a 19 year old brunette with rad spectacles, who came running an hugging and begging Mistress A for more mistreatment because (Cue music DJ) he 'just can't get enough'. Today's server was also adorable but set off our gadar detectors. Being equal opportunity offenders, we did not relent on throwing things on the floor to have him bend over at our table for further inspection. Sangria was flowing and he was going with our flow and protected us from hurting ourselves on the sharp edges of strewn tortilla chips.
The it was back to The Rouge to crash the "24" class and drop some "F" bombs. I am the wife of a filthy merchant marine, and I do have a reputation to uphold.
I still remember my first sushi experience. Bleeker Street in The Village with a certain someone who introduced me to some other firsts. Tomorrow my girl *A* and i were planning on heading to Shiki for some. I love this place. The service can be slow but I'm not the type that likes to hurry. The family closes and goes to Japan for a time. Authentic. The price is right - some of the places are serving up a single roll that is coming undone for what I can buy a meal for elsewhere.
And a REAL funny story about the VIP that I will have to keep to myself, not matter how may of you try to pry it out of me. You will have to catch me, pin me down and try to tickle it out of me. If you know my tickle spot!
Shit Anna, what if we find out you are allergic to sushi?
Anna has gotten me ADDICTED to facebook. I may have NO TIME TO BLOG;(
brought back this hand beaded neclace from her trip to Ga:
these beads and crystals to add to the hoops I had at home, they match the neclace, which matches the bracelet I also made that matches the neclace perfectly! This was a very neat way to spend the day. If you know someone who likes jewels you could give them a certificate for the class or take em out for the day. You make an appointment for individual instruction. I am so into all the things that are out right now that remind me of the old school tattoos. That's why I had to have these earrings:
They are GInormous, like a jinlgly ghetto girl would wear. So let's hear from you about your tats. Me? Always wanted one but could never commit to what/where and after watching seasons of mastery of Chris Garner on INKD thought I would stop stalling and make the commitment this year before any more time passed. Lots of friends advised me against it, saying did I want to be 90 and have some old illegible tat? (Well YES, but they are thinking of REAL OLD tats that navy sailors got when they were 18 when on a weekend pass bender that were done too deep and left to bake in the sun too long). As I looked around, I was seeing more and more 'old people' getting fresh and colored and sizable tats. It suddenly seemed 'trendy' to have a tattoo, and not taboo, so I guess that helped me to get over it. Besides, the VIP prefers counting my freckles. So let's hear from you - any tats?
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